Stay With Me
by blossomjaj988
Summary: A small broken heart needs mending by a pair of large, calloused hands. (Cover image: sargar3000)


The door opened with a creak that made Kristoff wince. It wasn't that he wasn't supposed to be here, I mean, Elsa had given him the key and obvious permission to come. Just, God, why did the door have to creak? Slowly, he pushed the door open further, enough to allow him entrance. He stepped in, turned to push the door closed and damn if the door didn't creak again.

_Come on. _He thought as the door closed with a light click. He turned and faced his surroundings. The apartment was dark, the curtains drawn and it was quiet. Way to quiet for this apartment. Usually there would be music playing, the tv on, the lights glowing brightly, maybe the sound of popcorn popping in the microwave. Along with that, there would be one very loud and one very pretty strawberry blonde either on the couch making comments about the show or movie that was on or dancing around the room to the music, singing at the top of her lungs.

But not today, today it was all eerily still. He sighed deeply at the silence, looked to the door right next to the kitchen and made his way towards it.

"Why do you need me to check on her?" He had asked Elsa earlier. She had looked to her hands, squeezing them tightly in her lap.

"You didn't hear about it did you?" Elsa said, barely a whisper.

"Hear what?" Kristoff leaned in, curiosity and worry filling him. Elsa had sighed and looked up at him.

"Anna caught Hans last night."

"Caught him?"

"Yes. Caught him with another girl." Kristoff had gone quiet then. His first reaction was to be angry, to storm out of the office and fine the little side burned, son of a bitch and knock his lights out. Why? Why would he do that to her? To Anna? To _his _Anna?

He looked up, brows furrowed; ready to charge out of the office. But the look Elsa had on her face made him second-guess his idea.

"She had gone to surprise him and found him in bed with another woman. Anna got upset, but Hans—" Elsa broke off and Kristoff could see her right hand clenching into a fist. "Hans didn't even apologize. He just let her stand there. He started saying he never loved, had never cared and she was such a pretty little fool to even think he did. Kristoff." She said quietly, looking up at him with tear filled eyes. "He broke her."

Walking towards the door, he felt his stomach forming into knots.

Broken her. The bastard had broken her. Even the idea of the slime ball hurting her was enough to make him sick. He could take her crying, he could take her being upset. But for Elsa to use those two words to describe how Anna was, what Hans had done. Kristoff felt nauseous.

"But why me?" He had asked after a moment, "Why not you? I mean it would better if it were you. You're her sister"

"Kristoff, I tried all I could last night." Elsa said, a tear going down her cheek. She looked to the office door and wiped it away quickly. "But I couldn't handle seeing her like that. I couldn't do it. It just hurt too much. I'm—I'm not strong enough."

"What makes you think I am?" Elsa had smiled then and looked back at him.

"Because, I see the way you look at her Kristoff."

Kristoff gripped the doorknob, Elsa's last words echoeing in his head as he turned the handle.

"I know."

The door didn't creak as he pushed it open, but the room mimicked the darkness and stillness of the rest of the apartment. Sunlight peaked through the curtain just enough to light the room. Kristoff felt his heart sink when he saw the figure lying on the large pink bed.

On the bed, curled on her side, tissues laying everywhere, the covers pulled up to her chin, her hair a complete and utter mess, and silently sobbing, was Anna.

Broken, crying, Anna.

Kristoff sighed. He thought Elsa's description of her was heart breaking enough. He had been wrong, so wrong.

"Anna." He murmured, pushing the door till he felt it close. Anna jumped slightly at the sound of his voice and turned to look at him. Her eyes were so red, completely overshadowing the beautiful blue orbs. She sniffled,

"Kristoff?" Her voice was horse, scratched, quiet; so not Anna. She began wiping her face as he walked to her. "What—What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you." He said gently, kneeling beside the bed. Her face was stained with tears, her cheeks flushed and eyes puffy. Every detail was just another twist to the knife that was in Kristoff's heart.

"You—You did?"

"Yeah," He grabbed her free hand, rubbing her knuckles. "Elsa said you could use some company."

He watched her slowly, seeing new tears forming in her eyes as she spoke.

"Did—Did she tell you what happened?" Kristoff couldn't speak, so he nodded. Anna let out a sob and Kristoff scooped her into his arms. He held her tightly, letting her cry into his shoulder. He stood and sat onto the bed, cradling her against his chest.

How long they sat there he didn't know, but he would have sat there forever if it meant making her feel better. He let her get it out, rubbing small circles on her back and brushing his fingers through her hair.

Elsa had been right. Hans had broken her, and it was breaking Kristoff.

Anna's sobs began to slow and Kristoff gently pushed her back. He reached for a tissue and wiped her face and nose, completely ignoring the little voice in his head about how gross snot was.

_You share carrots with a dog. _Kristoff thought, as he continued to wipe at her face and let her blow her nose. _This is nothing. _

She sighed, looking at the floor. Her lip was trembling and Kristoff could tell she was on the verge of breaking down again; something that he was not going to let her do.

"I'm so stupid…" She whispered.

"No you're not, Anna." He whispered, cupping her face. She looked at him. "Don't think about him. Don't do it, ok? I know it's hard and I know he is in your head but don't let him in. Don't let him consume you. Don't let him win. Don't—Don't let him break you." His voice broke at the end and Kristoff coughed to try and hide it.

Anna sighed, a tear falling down her face. She slowly nodded. He wiped the tear away from with his thumb, and smiled at her.

"I think you need a bath, yeah? A big, hot bubble bath; how does that sound?" He searched her eyes for an answer and his heart fluttered a little when she smiled weakly at him and nodded again.

"Ok, I'll go get it started." She nodded once more. Kristoff placed her on the bed and headed to the bathroom. After a few minutes of searching for the lavender scented bath soap (Anna's favorite), letting the water get hot and filling it up, he returned to find Anna still sitting where he had left her.

"Come on." Gently, ever so gently, he pulled her to stand. Her head stayed looking to the floor so Kristoff guided her to the bathroom. "It's all ready. I'll be right out here ok? Take as long as you want."

Anna nodded again and walked into the bathroom. She turned to look back at him, a worried look on her face.

"I'll be right here." He said, a small smile on his face. She bit her lip, nodded and then closed the door.

45 minutes. That's how long Kristoff waited for Anna while leaning, sitting and pacing outside the door. He had heard her crying, but had let her be, let her tears drop into the soap and warm water. As much as he had wanted to walk in, he respected her privacy and as much as it pained him to think of her crying all alone, he knew she had to get it out; hopefully, get it all out.

It wouldn't take long; he knew the water would get too cold for her (she hated the cold, unless it was snow) and she would eventually get out. But for now, he would wait for her. Just like he always had, always did, always will.

The door opened and the light from the bathroom lit up the bedroom as she came out. Her hair sat undone on her shoulders, soaking through her too big t-shirt that covered her shorts. Her face was still red, her eyes still swollen, but the tearstains had vanished.

"Come here." Kristoff said, extending his hand. She took it and he squeezed, "Feel better?"

"Yeah." She whispered, wiping her nose with a sniffle. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He rubbed her knuckles. A sudden growl caught his ears and he couldn't help but chuckle when he realized it was Anna's stomach. "Hungry?" Anna shrugged,

"A little." She said with a shy smile.

"I bet I know exactly what you want." He said with a sly grin, "A big plate of carrots."

Anna stared at him, then glared. Kristoff held his grin and for a moment they sat there in silence as they held on to their spur of the moment staring contest. Kristoff raised his eyebrows, his smile grew and he watched as her glare softened and her lips twitched to hide her smile.

"Ok fine." He said, faking a sigh. "I guess we could go with some pizza rolls."

He caught her smile from the corner of his eye and his heart fluttered.

It was dark by the time they were done eating. It seemed Anna wasn't the only one who was hungry but she had been the hungriest. They had ended up finishing the bag of pizza rolls; well, Anna had finished the bag. They moved on to some watermelon and carrots for Kristoff, finishing off both easily. Then after a bowl of ice cream, Anna finally declared herself full. They had been pretty quiet during dinner. Kristoff made little comments here and there, trying to coax a smile out of her. It had worked a few times and she had made small remarks back, but Kristoff could tell she wasn't 100% yet.

They went back to the bedroom, Anna being a bit too tired for a movie or TV. That was good for Kristoff too, seeing as he couldn't think of a single movie or show that didn't involve some sort of romance in the plot. The last thing he wanted to do was to show her any type of romance. He couldn't bear to watch her cry again.

Together they picked up the tissues; a small game of 'who can make the trash bin' ensued. Anna didn't make a sound, but her smile spoke for her every time she made one. It grew every time, slowly growing to the normal, happy Anna smile that Kristoff adored so much.

When the final basket was made (Anna beating Kristoff by 2 tissues), Anna climbed into bet and snuggled down deep into the covers. Kristoff sat beside her, stroking her hair as she lay there. He hummed a tune, one that was familiar to only the pair of them. The humming was soothing in the deep silence.

Kristoff heard the familiar creak of the front door. Elsa was home. He stopped humming expecting to have her come walking in to check on them. He watched the door, still stroking Anna's hair, as he watched a shadow appear, stop at the door for a moment and then stroll right on past. The distant noise of a door opening and closing echoed through the apartment. Kristoff looked down at Anna, her eyes closed, her breathing deep and steady.

Kristoff knew he should leave. Sven was probably dying to get out of the room, impatiently waiting for him. There were things he needed to do for work, some laundry he needed to get done and he definitely could use a shower.

Slowly, he worked his way towards the edge of the bed. As his feet hit the floor he felt a small hand grab his wrist.

"Stay." It was barely a whisper, but it rang in his ears.

"I need to go Anna." He said, turning to look at her. Her eyes were back to their beautiful, captivating blue, no red in site. He stared for a moment, losing himself in her eyes and then recovered. "I have to check on Sven."

The look of disappointment on her face was cruel.

"Please."

"Anna," He said softly, leaning down towards her. "Elsa's back. She can help better with this than I can. She…she get's these things better."

That wasn't the whole truth, and from the look on Anna's face, she knew it wasn't too. He couldn't bear watching her cry over another man. He hardly got by on the days she would gush about him, smiling from ear to ear talking about how wonderful Hans was.

Kristoff had done well to hide his feelings for Anna. He had smiled as she talked, laughing when he should, agreeing about anything she said about him. When deep down, he was fighting everything to just tell her how he felt, how wrong Hans was for her, how much he really cared for her.

But he never did. No, for the sake of Anna he wouldn't. So, he sat through months of torture, listening to the girl he loved talk about how she loved another man.

Now here she was, expecting him to stay so she could talk about how hurt she was by the so-called perfect man. As much as he loved her, as much as he was happy that it was over, he just couldn't do it.

"Look," He said softly, "Elsa can give you more comfort than I can ok? She gets these things better than I could. I—I don't know what to say to help. Talking isn't exactly my strong point and you need to talk. You need more, Anna."

"You're all I need."

He stared at her, his eyes wide at her words, and he could see something in her eyes.

Was…was that love?

No, it couldn't be. There was no way. She didn't love him. Liked him? Yes. Cared for him? Absolutely. But loved? There was absolutely, positively, no way. She loved Hans, well did, but not him. Not the big, dorky, carrot loving, video game playing, barely holding a job Kristoff. No way.

But as he looked, he could see the care in her eyes, the kindness, the happiness and the unmistakable look of love swimming in those big blue orbs and shining from her small smile.

She loved him. She actually loved. Whether she realized it or not, she did and he could see it and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"Stay." She whispered.

Kristoff grabbed hold of her hand that clutched his wrist,

"Ok." He replied and kissed her hand. She smiled at him; the usual Anna smile and Kristoff felt butterflies swarming in his chest. Anna scooted over, lifting the covers up for him as he lay down beside her. As if on instinct, he wrapped his arms around her, letting her snuggle close into his chest. He wondered if she could hear his heart hammering against his ribs.

As they lay in the silence and darkness, they let the quiet speak for them. There would need to be words said, things professed, feelings declared; but not now, not at this moment. They could wait till morning. For now, Anna's plea for him to stay and Kristoff's acceptance said enough. As sleep overtook them, slow and deep, they both realized that the other was truly the only thing they needed.


End file.
